From Your Health Journal…..”A interesting article today from First Coast News called, Hospitals Super-Sizing Equipment For Obese Patients. This is one of those articles where I don’t know how to respond. It is an excellent written article with some great facts, but I am not sure if I should be happy or sad when I read it. First, it appears hospitals are re-creating themselves with equipment for the ‘larger’ patient, who may have had trouble before using equipment that possibly could not support them, whether a wheelchair, or a bed. This is great news, as it will help these patients a lot. What upsets me is there are so many patients who now need this type of equipment. Some doctors are even developing reputations for treating larger patients. They use longer needles to deliver injections into thicker arms or special surgical equipment that let the surgeon reach deeper inside a patient’s abdominal cavity. Please visit the First Coast News web site (link provided below) to view the complete article.”
From the article…..
Hospitals are getting super-sized.
Waiting room chairs are being built with wrought iron for heavy patients. Wheelchairs and beds are made to sustain extra weight. And toilets are being mounted to the floor, not the wall.
In response to America’s obesity epidemic, healthcare facilities nationwide are making accommodations to make sure they can take care of their heaviest patients.
The trend started about a decade ago when bariatric surgery took off in popularity and the American public began ballooning in weight. By the mid-2000s, hospitals had started to update with these patients in mind. That can mean anything from wider doorways to bigger commodes.
“It really runs the gamut,” said Cathy Denning, a vice president at Novation, a healthcare supply chain company that produces an annual report on the cost of bariatric care.
And they’re finding that those products have uses for other patients.
Vein viewers can locate veins in patients whose fat obscures their vascular access; they’re also useful in patients with difficult-to-find veins. Scanners need wide enough holes and strong enough tables to accommodate larger patients; patients with claustrophobia may also appreciate them.
Some doctors are developing reputations for treating larger patients. They use longer needles to deliver injections into thicker arms or special surgical equipment that let the surgeon reach deeper inside a patient’s abdominal cavity.
The average patient of Dr. Hubert Fornalik’s at St. Vincent Indianapolis has a body mass index of 38. Normal BMI is considered to be 18.5 to 24.9. That means a person who stands 5-foot-9 would weigh from 125 to 168 pounds.
Recently Fornalik, a gynecological surgeon, operated on a woman who had a BMI of 83 and weighed more than 400 pounds.
“We see more and more of those patients, and those patients are unfortunately bigger and bigger,” he said.
To read the full article…..Click here